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| S P E C I A L | Tobacco Under Attack |
Tobacco lawyers want Florida judge to step down
September 23, 1997
Web posted at: 11:31 p.m. EDT (2331 GMT)MIAMI (CNN) -- Lawyers for the tobacco industry have asked the judge hearing a secondhand smoke trial to step down from the case and to declare a mistrial.
The lawyers made the motion after Judge Robert Kaye ruled against them Tuesday and limited the testimony a key tobacco researcher could give.
The case is a $5 billion class-action suit filed by about 60,000 non-smoking airline flight attendants against tobacco companies, charging that they were made ill by secondhand smoke while working in airliner cabins.
The companies had sought to include testimony about a study conducted by Roger Jenkins, a research scientist with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Although billed as an independent study, Jenkins conceded that the lab work was done by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco company, a party to the lawsuit.
The Judge said he would take the motion for recusal under advisement and rule on it later.
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